The Irish standard., 1887-02-26

aphorisms of vulgar wisdom upon hin
hitherto. the reader will excuse oul
transcribing. It runs, III English, some
thing in this way-'Carry goat to The
chapel, and ne never will stop until hE
mounts the altar" The truth Of tht
axiom is more frequently exemplifed II
the annals of Irish crime, than, perhaps
in those of most other nations. The
reason of this may be found in the simple
fact, that Irish crime, like Irish virture
is not the creature Of the mind but O
the heart. They are people more fre
quently betrayed into guilt by the i'm
pulses of strong feeling, than the colo
suggestions Of convenience; and in pro
portion to the violence of the stimulus
applied, will be found the depth ane
atrocity of the outrage that is committed
For the same reason also, it appear
that instances of cold-hearted attach
ment to guilt, having no more immedi
ate motive than habitude. are, proper
tionably to the extent of crime existing
very rare. The rufiar who has beer
lashed, through his course of blood and
outrage, by the hand of circumstance, is
liable, when the scourge is withdrawn.
and pause is left him for reflection, tc
sudden accesses of self-detestation and
remorse, which would seldom be expert
enced by one whose guilt was deter
mined before it was acted, and whose
career had been the election, in any de-
gree, of deliberate reason. By follow
ing in the steps Of the unhappy wretch,
whose alias has furnished us with a
name for this tale, through the follow
ing pages, the reader may find an Illus
tration OF both the idiosYncrasies we
have attempted to account for, the capa-
bility Of utter abandonment OF all moral
principle, and liability to sudden
change OF feeling in the very head aud
front Of the criminals s offending:-a hue
OF national character, which is only
wanting in wretches SO completely re-
generated in depravity, as the white
haired murderer-Red Rody.
We should also have called the read
er's attention to the fact which is per-
fectly observable at the present day, as
we may suppose 1t to have been at the
period OF which we write-that when
those Irishmen, who live by misappro-
priation Of the goods OF others, meet
together for the purpose of agitating
an excursion in the way of their vocation,
they do not confine themselves to soli-
tary outrage, but calculate upon effect
ing all that may be accomplished within
the period to which they limit their ab'
sence, ips omuch, that robberies, and
perhaps murders, sometimes take place
or the same night at places SO remote
from each other, that it would almost
appear sufficient to prove mans iden-
tity as q partner in the one, to enable
him 10 enter an alibi on the other ohense.
Suil Dhuv end his three companions
had more to accomplish on this evening
than the reader has already been made
aware of, and one, the first, act OF vio-
lence which they proposed committing,
was Of peculiar and more startling na-
ture than any in which the Coiner had
yet been engaged.
He had accorded an instant and even
eager assent when the proposition was
first made by one of the gang, Nun Ma
her, the fellow whose insolence he had
checked by SO summary a procedure in
the hold Of the gang. He had then,
however, only considered the advantage
which was to be derived from it, namely,
the acquisition of a sufficient quantity
of silver for the purpose of carrying on
their illegal tell. Upon the means he
had not bestowed d single thought, after
he had once satisfied himself of their
practicability.
As he rode, however, along the coun-
try with his companions: new train of
circumstances conspired to shake him
from the indifference in which be had
fortified his spirit The very agitation
of the contemplated enterprise in which
his personal wishes were chiefly inter-
ested, was calculated to prepare the way
III his breast for the admission Of gen
tier tone Of feeling, than he usually car
ried about him on such expeditions.
The district which they were approach
ing, and which speedily began to spread
its we'll ll-cultivated anu party -colored sur
face before their eyes, was the soil in
which his childhood had been passed;
and memories OF childhood hours
whether those hours have been spent in
darkness Or light, in showers or sun
shine are the truest key that can be
found to draw forth FROM their rugged
prison the yet surviving tendernesses of
the human heart.
e